I guess you are working the late shift -eh?

An umpire was once asked what is the most offensive word that a baseball player could say to him.

He responded -“you”.

He then went on to relate how a player is allowed to cuss and swear in frustration all that he wanted but the moment he attached the word “you”…that when it became directed at him….was the moment that the player would be ejected from the game.

Sometimes the most innocuous words carry the most powerful punch. So it was last night as I was getting out of my car heading into McDonald’s to see what was holding up my daughter as I waited for her in my car as she was finishing her shift at work.

Earlier I had driven up to my house . Across the street I could see that an impromptu neighbourhood party had broken out with adults eating and talking on the deck while the kids were bouncing around in the Rec room downstairs. Before I could even get my bottle of chardonnay out of the brown paper bag, I was asked by my wife if I would pick up my daughter from McDonald’s.

Dressed in my blue jeans, and black shirt from Costco, with my black Deutchland ballcap, I headed dutifully down to McDonald’s to pick up my daughter. As I lay in my front seat exhausted by a crazy week with the hockey association, having just participated in 2 hockey practices with my boys earlier in the day….I looked over to see a middle age woman and her friend, bikes on the back of their vehicle, eating their McDonald’s dinner …standing in the space between the open doors of their car – using the roof as a makeshift table – as they conversed with one another. As I got out of the car I smiled at them and one offered nicely..

“I guess you are working the late shift – eh?”

I laughed and said “yes”.. I took it as a commiserative comment by a fellow parent. But  as I entered the store I realized it was only 7:30pm and thought that really isn’t a late time to be waiting for your kid. I mean I have been out there at midnight snoring while employees drift out of the store while I drift in and out of consciousness.

And then it hit me.

At 300 hundreds yards if you look at my body form you might think you are looking at a rock. At 100 yards you might think you have spotted a gigantic Lego character. At 30 yards you might think you are seeing a Wood Bison. But at 20 feet, in the soft duskiness of early Fall evening you may think you have seen a McDonald’s employee arriving for the late shift.

Seeking solace and encouragement from my daughter on the ride home, I asked her if I looked like one of her fellow employees, and she offered me those soothing words that only a child can provide a father who is in the midst of a job change.

“Well Dad, I don’t know, but you don’t really dress like a business executive anymore”

All I can ask now…..

“Is there no God?”

Seeking Immortality

I find it funny when I hear some people dismiss professional athletes as people just in it for the money, just focused on the business. I have read and heard of instances where that is in fact the case, but it is pretty rare where a top draft choice takes the ‘signing bonus’ and just runs away with it, losing all motivation. Yes, if they were just in it for the money, once the bonus came in…….they would lose their ‘edge’, their competitive thrust.

In the Globe and Mail article this morning an article on the Blue Jays season, has a quote by Jose Reyes, the 31 year old shortstop who said

“You get to a point in your career when you just want to win”

Most professional athletes are wired differently. They are ultra-competitive. I remember Kevin Lowe saying that the signature element of a professional athlete isn’t his desire to win……so much as him hating to lose. I thought that was profound and disturbing at the same time. It comes from the Donald Trump school of business.

“Show me a good loser…….and I will show you a loser”

In the professional ranks athletes are not necessarily balanced individuals – not saying they are crazy at all – but they have a narrow all-consuming focus driven by the fact they have to stay competitive to remain world class in what they do.

They are driven more by ego – and ego comes from insecurity more than anything else. And it is this insecurity that drives them to achieve, to strive for championships, to be cheered & applauded………and ultimately ‘validated’ for what they are …a world class athlete. There is nothing more validating in the hockey world than getting your name put on the Stanley Cup. For the rest of time  as we know it, your name will be carried on a Silver Trophy to all places in the world. While you are alive, you can bring it home and show it to your friends – you can even play a ‘street hockey game’ like you did as a kid and give it away, just like Martin Brodeur did with his buddies after he won it.

Bill Nyrop, a US hockey player from Minnesota, died an unfortunate early death due to cancer some 12 + years ago. He had played defence with the Montreal Canadiens and had won the Stanley Cup with them. Unfortunately he lost his Stanley Cup ring. Upon his death his wife contacted the Canadiens and told them it was the one thing he lamented more than anythiing else in his life. The Canadiens immediately created another Stanley Cup ring for him. It was placed upon his finger, and he was buried with it . It was his signpost immortality – of his significance to have been part of a group that achieved the highest of success in hockey.

Minor Hockey Coach: The Toughest Gig in Hockey

“In my 11 years of coaching minor hockey, I have lost more friends than I have made”

That statement was shared with me yesterday by a new business acquaintance. A very nice man, my age, who shares a passion for hockey and for coaching with me. He tells me of situations where he lost friendships based on the kids he chose to play for his team, or choices he made during the season on who he plays, or in chosing who was going to be captains or assistant captains for a team.

He related a story in which was speaking with a former NHL coach who had a player on his team. This man told him

“As a minor hockey coach you have a much tougher job than I did in the pros. And the difference is …you can’t win”

The essence of the message from this former pro hockey coach was this. In dealing with fellow members’ children you are entrusted to the most precious asset. They will do everything to make sure that this child is cared for, tended to, and raised in a manner that gives them the best chance at success in life. A minor hockey parent is not necessarily informed or experienced in the breadth and structure of the wider ‘hockey world’.

In the professional ranks it is the player, an adult, that a coach deals with. And there is economic leverage that can be exercised. When a hockey player arrives in the professional hockey ranks, he has experienced a wide spectrum of hockey, having his character forged by the fires that he had to go through to get there– he knows the gig. He knows of the wider ‘world market’ of hockey talent and the unrelenting competition it holds. The coach has the power of  either giving, or not giving, playing time and the player who understands his performance is dependent on that.

It is an interesting dichotomy that those minor hockey coaches who would volunteer their time – owing to their passion and love for the game of hockey, and the love of coaching kids – would face such a daunting task , while those who get paid for it have a much more defined set of rules and norms in which to operate.

It was brought front and center the other night when a coach of one of our A teams decided to withdraw his services as a volunteer. He was 4 weeks into a season coaching a team of other people’s kids.  He had no kid on the team-his is a top notch player who is playing in the WHL. He came forward to help out, but he heard rumblings that there was dissatisfaction by some parent with the complexity and intensity of the practices.

Some of the kids came to him directly to give him feedback -encouraged to do so by their parents who gave their kids an important life lesson in self responsibility and personal integrity . It was noteworthy that these kids did something that some of the other parents on the team wouldn’t or couldn’t do as themselves as adults . Instead they decided to rumour-monger and seek support for changing a coach. What a shame – and somewhat shameful at the same time.

We met for 1.5 hours the other night. As President I put forth the position of the Association and of its volunteers. I don’t think I made any friends with a few of the folks – I don’t know as I am not familiar with this group – but based on the post meeting feedback to the Board in emails and conversation – it is clear that they were happy that someone would stand up to address this. Like a team itself, an association needs to find ways to work together…and sometimes that takes a tough discussion on accountability. As a former hockey player, and now a coach, and now a President I have been in many of these rooms where some tough conversations take place. They are healthy things to have – and ultimately as a team player I know that after that is over, we need to move forward as  a group, as a team, with full respect for one another.

10:30 in Newfoundland

I remember when the CBC TV announcer would be promoting the time of some show or TV program that mother corp was launching…and he would always add the 1/2 hour proviso for Newfoundland time.

“The National – 10 EST……10:30 in Newfoundland”  the announcer would say in sonorous tones.

The joke went around

“The World will end tonight at10pm……. 10:30 in Newfoundland”

Everyday, when I work and communicate with others in an interconnected world I have to think about the time zones for my communications and my meetings.

Time zones find their origin in ‘Longitude’ a concept invented by Scottish born Canadian Sir Sanford Fleming. So as Canadians we can take pride in inventing time zones, insulin, and in our manners – like our tendency  to apologize to bank machines.

But for me, the invention of Longitude is a good example of the quality of Canadian management at work. And that is

‘If you give someone enough latitude they can get things done in minutes’!

New Atom C ‘Bengal Nation’ is Formed

With a roster of new players selected in the SDMHA Atom draft the previous night,  I began sending out the personalized invitations to the kids, and their parents.

The invitations are sent to the kids – parents’ email – are done to make sure that I connect with the children and let them know that they have been “personally selected” ….and that they get to make new friends and learn new things. I also speak about “our secret B3 strategy”. We later talk about values that not only guide the team, but now as President I utilized for my message to the broader membership.

Be the Best you can Be — our mission is about instilling character and individual development through the hockey experience.

Be a Good Teammate – in the same way you need to respect and be accountable to other players on the team, members of our association have the same onus as well.

Be a Hockey Ambassador – while the kids always ask ‘what is an Ambassador’ …it is good learning that they are responsible for representing not only themselves, but their team, the Association and ultimately the Game of Hockey itself …wherever they are.

The final and most important part of the effort is making sure that all parent members on the team understand that this is a ‘member-driven’ organization …..not a paid for service. Everyone is responsible, everyone is accountable to one another in this ‘hockey collective’. In that regard I have drawn upon some of the zeitgeist of professional sports where they speak of things like ‘Bosox Nation’ or ‘Leafs Nation’. Bengal Nation means that all of us are involved …that together we are responsible for creation of the ‘hockey experience’. And it speaks to the fact that,ironically, being in a ‘hockey association’ means that the ‘association’ part of the title is an equal part of the equation. And in looking at our operations and efforts through solely the lens of hockey can lead to angst and conflict, which unfortunately characterizes many teams and organizations these days.

Late Night TV Crackdown in China

Reports are coming out of Beijing that state authorities have cracked down on some of the funnier and controversial late night shows in the country.

Just last week the “Jimmy Falun Gong Show” which featured late night conversation  combined with audience voting was cancelled.

The Department of Homeland Conformity reported.

“It wasn’t funny- and it isn’t an authorized show”

I Think the Answer is Quite Obvious

This morning’s Globe and Mail Poll asks

“Should organ donation be presumed unless you opt out?”

To which I answer.

“Yes…as long as you are dead”

A Step on the Right Direction for the Canucks

Captain William Bligh made the case to the British Admiralty that his tough discipline was necessary to ensure the survival of his men. Having been set adrift from the Bounty after a mutiny led by his second in command, Fraser Christian, along with a majority of the men on the ship, Bligh led a small group of loyalists to survival in their row boat. In one situation an authoritarian style of leadership spelled his doom……and in another situation is was essential to success.

Some teams achieve success because of the boss. Other’s achieve success despite their boss.

I was reminded of that corollary this morning upon reading the early reports from Vancouver Canuck training camp  with their new bench boss Willie Desjardins, former coach of AHL Champions the Texas Stars, and WHL Champions, the Medicine Hat Tigers.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/ebner-canucks-new-coach-more-maestro-than-bench-boss/article20714682/#dashboard/follows/

You can read in the Globe and Mail article how the previous Canuck’s boss, John Torturella, made the team more about himself, than about the team,or the organization. The only person who should be held more accountable to last season’s challenges is the person who hired him into a situation more akin to the Bounty than it was to a lifeboat. Perhaps Torturella was more appropriate to a team in desperation or just starting out with young players that might have been intimidated by his behavior, but yelling and screaming at veterans like Yannek Hansen and Alex Edler only served to show everyone that he was both a bully and  a coward because he wouldn’t do it publicly to one of the stars on the team. So much for creating a team ethos.

That doesn’t mean that you have to provide your players with a  comfortable existence. Research shows that managers that have higher expectations for staff achieve higher levels of performance. It is the same in hockey no doubt. But over the long term, if you are going to be navigating the waters of a tumultuous NHL season it helps if the captain doesn’t take a leap on a swing rope from your ship to start a fight on another ship unless its’ really needed. And it helps if the team really wants to do their level best because they respect and want to perform for their captain.

New Prostitution Bill before Parliament

It appears that the Progressive Conservatives (say it in the high nasal, lispy tones of Preston Manning – it sounds better) are trying to move new prostitution legislation through the House of Commons with due speed.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-prepare-to-fast-track-high-profile-prostitution-bill/article20716890/#dashboard/follows/

I just hope the Tory party Whip can get the caucus to rise to the occaision.

‘Physical Literacy’ – On ice!

Read an interesting article in the Globe this morning that researchers have found that schools are not building the physical literacy necessary in our children to prepare them for the rigours of a physical life where they can better avoid injuries participating in sports. (They cynical side of me asks if they are teaching them ‘proper thumb training’ for their video games…but never mindcraft that)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/how-to-build-a-better-athlete-starting-in-kindergarten/article20710040/#dashboard/follows/

One of the biggest things I look for in my hockey training is the ‘double-down’. That is – looking for a technique that improves both their safety & performance at the same time. Two things really stand out in that regard

1) Balance & Agility

A skate touches the ice 1/100th the ratio that a human foot touches the surface. The kids simply need to have more agility exercises – hopping, stopping on one foot, gliding on one foot. There is too much two -foot emphasis which is allowing the kids to ‘cheat’ on gaining balance by using the dominant foot way too much. It is not by mistake that Pavel Datsyuk and Sidney Crosby have the best back-hand shots in the NHL — its because they also have the best balance.

2) Stickhandling with your head up.

The teaching of stickhandling is still not adequate. To most youngsters – having the puck on your stick is simply mesmerizing. So much so, that they tend to stare directly at it …while 9 other kids come flying at them to get it. If you weren’t playing hockey you might think it’s a safer and better thing to do to share it…and taking turns doing so! But the reality is – the nature of the game makes the little black disc quite compelling.

In demonstrating the point I bring the kids into a huddle. I explain to them how we all tend to think about the puck …and then I demonstrate. I scream like a witch “Ha, I got the puck, Ha, I got the puck, Ha, I got the puck” ..while skating around wildly stickhandling. They all laugh as I now get their attention. I then put them in a line behind two rows of cones 5 feet and 8 feet ahead of them. I start them stickhandling by having them look at a cone in the the first row  ..in order to extend their PERIPHERAL VISION. I then remove the first row and get them to extend their periphery by choosing a cone in the second row. Thirdly I then ask the kids to close their eyes to ‘feel the puck’ going back and forth on their sticks…….and we alternate them closing and then opening their eyes to look at that far cone again.

We all want the kids to pass the puck. But a precursor to good passing is stickhandling with your head up…and its too often missed. Doing this makes hockey ‘safer’ and ‘provides better performance’ – a good double-down.